Smaller tax bills coming to Minnesota homeowners

Minnesota homeowners are seeing the largest property tax reduction in 12 years, according to a new report.

On Tuesday, Minnesota 2020 released “Delivering Dollars: 2014 Homeowner Property Tax Report.” The report attributes the reduction to state tax laws passed this year and in 2013.

Median-income homeowners in median-value homes in St. Cloud will see a 12 percent reduction, according to the report. In high-value homes, median-income homeowners will see an almost 20 percent fall.

The smallest drop in St. Cloud, about 2.7 percent, will come to high-income homeowners in median-value homes.

The report looks at estimated property taxes for homeowners, after refunds are taken into consideration. It uses information from the Minnesota Department of Revenue and median owner-occupied household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

The decrease comes after a decade of increases. From 2002 to 2013, homeowner property taxes increased by 87 percent, according to the report.

The report attributes the drop this year to 2013 and 2014 tax laws, increases in state aid to local governments, improvements to aid distribution formulas, an increase in the renter property tax refund and an expansion of the homeowner property tax refund.